REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) must be responsible for issuing an edict (fatwa) regarding the presence of Shiite followers in the country, the Islamic organization Muhammadiyah has said.

"The MUI must assume responsibility for it because one of the council's tasks is to protect the Indonesian Muslims from deviant faith and destructive thoughts," Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Central Executive Board Yunahar Ilyas said in a discussion on Shiite, Sectarianism and Geopolitics here on Wednesday night.

In general, the MUI must issue a clear edict to declare whether or not Shiite is deviant, he said.

"This is the task of the MUI," he said.

He expressed his concern about the latest global geopolitics, including tense relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the wake of Tehran's protest against the execution by the Saudi government of a prominent Shiite ulema. The tension will have an impact on Sunni-Shiite relations in Indonesia.

Furthermore, many Indonesians do not have much knowledge about Shiite as a vast majority of Indonesian Muslims are Sunni, he said.

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